Quinnipiac Hockey: Tufto has been an offensive sparkplug for the Bobcats.

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HAMDEN — After a blazing start to his college career, Odeen Tufto, at 5-foot-7 and 175 pounds, is evoking images of a couple of other small and gifted Quinnipiac forwards.

Tufto’s two high-end goals against Vermont last Sunday included the winner in overtime and drew natural comparisons to Sam Anas, the 5-7, 150-pound scoring wiz who left Quinnipiac a year early in 2016 to sign an NHL contract.

But Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold sees Tufto’s development mirroring that of Travis St. Denis, now a top-six forward for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

St. Denis, 5-7 and 160 at Quinnipiac, played on a wing for two years while working in the weight room before shifting back to the middle. As a senior he skated alongside Anas, forming one of the nation’s most dynamic lines on a team that reached the Frozen Four.

Tufto, a center for Quinnipiac’s first two games, was moved to a wing alongside Landon Smith and Tanner MacMaster for Vermont. The trio was highly productive, and could remain together for a while.

The Bobcats (1-1-1) play two games at Northeastern (2-0-1) this weekend.

“He’s going to be better served playing wing,” Pecknold said. “Travis, once he got bigger and stronger, was a center for two years. As a senior he was maybe the best defensive center in the country. We’re going to do that with Odeen. We’ll let him play wing for now and eventually move him back to center.”

Tufto, a native of hockey-mad Minnesota, got his start in the sport at a young age despite his father, Kris, having a basketball background. There was a backyard rink at his home in Chaska, about 30 minutes outside Minneapolis, and he quickly developed into a skilled offensive player.

There was little choice.

“I’ve always been the smallest guy on my team, though this year I think I’ve got (Quinnipiac freshman) Devin Moore beat by a half-inch,” Tufto said. “But you have to be skilled, you have to be slippery, you have to be smart, you have to be quick. I tried to elevate that at every level, getting better at all those aspects. Being a smaller guy is fun sometimes, other times it’s not so fun. But I’ve adopted and learned at every stop.”

At St. Thomas Academy, Tufto, as a sophomore, enjoyed a regular shift on a team that won a state championship — no small feat in Minnesota, where high school hockey still rules. The championship round is played at St. Paul’s XL Center, home of the NHL’s Wild, and crowds approach 20,000.

In those days, Tufto went by his middle name. He’d been named Odeen Peter Tufto after his late grandfather, and decided he preferred Odeen after graduating high school.

Colleges took note of Odeen in the British Columbia Hockey League, where he scored 65 points in 57 games for league power Vernon. Denver, Notre Dame and Boston College showed heavy interest.

But Quinnipiac’s reputation for developing smallish forwards into NHL-caliber prospects sold Tufto. Anas and St. Denis were in the process of leading the Bobcats to a No. 1 ranking in the polls and national runner-up finish in 2016, when Tufto committed to the program.

“I met Sam and Travis on my visit here,” Tufto said. “They talked about how Quinnipiac did a really good job implementing smaller forwards into their style of play, and it was something that caught my eye and made my decision a lot easier. It was definitely the right decision.”

Tufto had assists in each of his first two games this season, a tie at Boston College and an overtime loss to Boston University. Pecknold moved him to a line with Smith and MacMaster, both seniors, last Monday.

The chemistry between the three was immediate. MacMaster (one goal, three assists) enjoyed one of the most productive games of his career. Tufto, who had just one shot on goal in each of the first two games, sent five on target.

His game winner was at once a grind-it-out and skilled goal. Tufto planted himself in front of the net as defenseman Brogan Rafferty unloaded a slap shot from the point. With a Vermont defender on his back, Tufto tapped the rebound away from the goalie’s grasp by kicking the puck left with his skate blade. He then tucked it into the net as the defender cross-checked him from behind and onto the ice, igniting a wild celebration.

“That’s a really high-end play,” Pecknold said. “Especially with the pressure and overtime. He likes the spotlight and he can handle that kind of pressure. I don’t know how many kids can make that play and score that goal. A few can, but not many.”

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Quinnipiac, which never really replaced the consistent scoring of Anas and St. Denis, believes there’s plenty more left in Tufto.